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Quotables
A collection of particularly memorable quotes from the Vorkosigan Saga. Aral Vorkosigan *Meaning is what you bring to things, not what you take from them (The Warrior's Apprentice) *The Vor system at work is streams of experience, all flowing together, combining at last in a river of great power. Yours Gregor's is the final confluence. (The Warrior's Apprentice) *A weapon is a device for making your enemy change his mind. (The Vor Game) *Between justice and genocide Komarrans there is, in the long run, no middle ground. (Brothers in Arms) *Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself. (A Civil Campaign) *A higher honor must underlie ours... We can't ever obey unthinkingly. ("''Winterfair Gifts") *One step at a time, I can walk around the world. (Barrayar) Cordelia Vorkosigan *War is the failure of politics. (Shards of Honor; Miles recalls it in ''The Warrior's Apprentice) *Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. (originally by Robert Frost; The Vor Game) *Egalitarians adjust to aristocracies just fine, as long as they get to be the aristocrats. (Cetaganda) *Anything worth doing is worth doing well. (catch phrase) *When you choose an action, you choose the consequences of that action. (Memory) *When you give each other everything, it becomes an even trade. Each wins all. (A Civil Campaign) *The debt you owe parents gets collected by your children, who hand it down in turn. It's a sort of entailment. Or if you don't have children of the body, it's left as a debt to your common humanity. Or to your God, if you possess or are possessed by one. (A Civil Campaign) *All things done well for the glory of God. (A Civil Campaign) *beyond reason is how I get results beyond hope. (A Civil Campaign) Miles Vorkosigan *Never do yourself what you can con an expert into doing for you. (quoted by Elli Quinn in Ethan of Athos) *Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake. (recalled by Ivan in Captain Vorpatril's Alliance) *Never send interim reports. Only final ones. Interim reports tend to elicit orders. Which you must then either obey, or spend valuable time and energy evading, which you could be using to solve the problem. (Brothers in Arms) * There will be grace and forgiveness enough, old dog, even for you. I pray you will spare me a drink from that cup, when it overflows for you. (The Warrior's Apprentice) Mark Vorkosigan *Integrity is a disease, and you can only catch it from someone who has it. ("''Winterfair Gifts") Alys Vorpatril *Dresses ''are weapons, my dear, in sufficiently skilled hands. ("Winterfair Gifts") Simon Illyan *Money, power, sex... and elephants. (on human desire, Memory) Ky Tung *All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means. (originally by Chou En Lai, Cetaganda) *On hemmed-in ground, use subterfuge. On desperate ground, fight. (originally by Sun Tzu, "''Labyrinth") Ekaterin Vorkosigan *Nothing is more guaranteed to make one start acting like a child than to be treated like one. (A Civil Campaign) *Then time ran out—no. Time ran on. There was no end to time. ''But you come to the end of yourself, and time runs on, and leaves you. (A Civil Campaign) Negri *Permitting private judgments to turn one's duty in the smallest matter would be just like getting a little bit pregnant ... the consequences would very soon get beyond one. (quoted by Illyan in Shards of Honor) Leo Graf *There is nothing, nothing, nothing more important to me in the men and women I train than their absolute personal integrity. Whether you function as welders or inspectors, the laws of physics are implacable lie-detectors. You may fool men. You will never fool the metal. (Falling Free) Taura *Every day is a gift. Me, I rip open the package and wolf it down on the spot. ("Winterfair Gifts") Gregor Vorbarra *Let's just… see what happens. (Many stories, passim, almost a tagline) Category:Vorkosigan Universe